Approfondimento sperimentale sulla capacità delle nuove sorgenti di illuminazione artificiale di influenzare le performance, la qualità e la quantità del sonno

Negli ultimi anni la ricerca internazionale ha dimostrato che esiste una stretta relazione tra radiazione luminosa e ritmi circadiani, influenza del comportamento umano e stimolazione del funzionamento cerebrale; tali effetti non-visivi sembrano dipendere principalmente dall’intensità luminosa, dalla composizione spettrale, dalla durata dell’esposizione e dall’ora del giorno in cui essa avviene, ma ad oggi non sono ancora chiari gli effetti su specifiche funzioni cognitive, né si può considerare sufficientemente nota l’influenza delle nuova tecnologia LED. In quest’ambito, precedenti studi svolti dallo stesso gruppo hanno evidenziato che, rispetto all’illuminazione prodotta con sorgenti alogene, un’illuminazione LED con temperatura correlata di colore (CCT) neutra (4000K), produce effetti positivi su alcuni aspetti dell’attenzione, quali le funzioni esecutive e la vigilanza visiva: con l’illuminazione LED è stata riscontrata la capacità di produrre molteplici rappresentazioni mentali contemporaneamente e di incrementare il livello di vigilanza durante l’esecuzione di un compito di attenzione. La presente attività approfondisce gli studi svolti precedentemente considerando sorgenti con differente composizione spettrale e temperatura di colore: in un primo esperimento sono state confrontate le stesse lampade utilizzate nei lavori precedenti, alogene e LED neutro, ed in un secondo esperimento lo studio è stato ripetuto con due scenari luminosi LED, con temperatura correlata di colore calda (3000 K) e fredda (6800), per investigare la differente influenza che tali sorgenti hanno a livello psicofisiologico. In entrambi gli esperimenti sono stati analizzati sia gli effetti immediati sulle capacità attentive in un compito di vigilanza cross-modale, sia gli effetti conseguenti sul sonno. I risultati di questo studio mostrano un effetto positivo delle illuminazioni sperimentali (LED 4000 K e LED 6800 K) sulle prestazioni di vigilanza visiva, ma non sulla vigilanza acustica, se paragonato alle illuminazioni calde (alogena 2800 K e LED 3000 K), e l’assenza di effetti significativi dell’illuminazione, sia alogena sia LED, sul sonno dei soggetti partecipanti. La conoscenza approfondita dell’influenza che la luce ha sulla mente umana a livello cognitivo apre la strada ad una nuova tipologia di progettazione illuminotecnica, finalizzata tanto al comfort visivo quanto al benessere fisiologico e all’efficienza cognitiva

Gender effects in young road users on road safety attitudes, behaviors and risk perception

In the present study, we investigated gender-related effects on road safety attitudes in 2681 young drivers (1458 males, 54.4%; aged 18-22) who filled out several scales assessing attitudes toward road safety issues, driving behavior in specific hypothetical situations, accident risk perception, and concerns about such a risk. We focused only on young drivers to better understand the role of gender in road safety attitudes in a period of life in which risky behaviors are widespread for males and females. Indeed, there is still no agreement as to the nature of these gender differences. According to some authors, the effects of gender on being involved in a crash due to driving skills are either non-existent or largely explained by differences in alcohol consumption. In our study, we found gender differences in road safety attitudes (i.e., "negative attitude toward traffic rules and risky driving"; "negative attitude toward drugs and alcohol" and "tolerance toward speeding") and in driver behavior (i.e., "errors in inattentive driving" and "driving violations"). This result is consistent in all drivers coming from nine different European countries. Our analyses yielded an important finding concerning risk perception. The results indicate that the level of risk perception during driving is the same for males and females. However, these two groups differ in the level of concern about this risk, with males being less concerned about the risk of a road accident. This suggests that the main difference between these two groups is not strictly related to judgment of the perceived risk probability but rather to the level of concern experienced about the consequences of the risk. This difference between risk perception and worry could explain differences in the frequency of car accidents in the two groups. The present findings may provide new insights for the development of gender-based prevention program

Where does brain neural activation in aesthetic responses to visual art occur? Meta-analytic evidence from neuroimaging studies

Here we aimed at finding the neural correlates of the general aspect of visual aesthetic experience (VAE) and those more strictly correlated with the content of the artworks. We applied a general activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to 47 fMRI experiments described in 14 published studies. We also performed four separate ALE analyses in order to identify the neural substrates of reactions to specific categories of artworks, namely portraits, representation of real-world-visual-scenes, abstract paintings, and body sculptures. The general ALE revealed that VAE relies on a bilateral network of areas, and the individual ALE analyses revealed different maximal activation for the artworks' categories as function of their content. Specifically, different content-dependent areas of the ventral visual stream are involved in VAE, but a few additional brain areas are involved as well. Thus, aesthetic-related neural responses to art recruit widely distributed networks in both hemispheres including content-dependent brain areas of the ventral visual stream. Together, the results suggest that aesthetic responses are not independent of sensory, perceptual, and cognitive processe

Treatment allocation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: Need for a paradigm shift?

Letter

The Challenge of Fostering Healthy Organizations: An Empirical Study on the Role of Workplace Relational Civility in Acceptance of Change and Well-Being

The world of work in the twenty-first century is characterized by globalization, instability, and unavoidable change. Organizations need to develop a positive relational environment in the workplace thereby enabling workers to enhance their personal resources in order to face with on-going changes in the sphere of work for promoting their well-being. Against this background, the aim of this research was to examine the relationship between workplace relational civility and both acceptance of change and well-being (hedonic well-being as well as eudaimonic well-being) beyond the effect of personality traits. The following instruments were administered to 261 Italian workers: the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), the Acceptance of Change Scale (ACS), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and the Meaningful Life Measure (MLM). The results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that workplace relational civility explained a percentage of incremental variance beyond personality traits in relation to acceptance of change, life satisfaction, and meaning in life. These results underscore the positive relationship between workplace relational civility and acceptance of change, hedonic well-being, and eudaimonic well-being, offering new research and intervention opportunities to meet the challenge of fostering healthy organizations

Decision-Making and Abuse, What Relationship in Victims of Violence?

Gender-Based violence is a worldwide persisting phenomenon: during their lifetime, 30% of women have experienced sexual and/or physical violence. The literature has investigated for several years the association between abuse and possible psychiatric and psychological consequences which may occur even after many years. The most common consequences involve mood and stress disorders (e.g., depression and PTSD). These disorders seem to have secondary long-term effects, such as decision-making and cognitive function impairments. Therefore, the present literature synthesis aimed to investigate whether and how the decision-making capacities of individuals experiencing violence can change because of abuse. We conducted a thematic synthesis using PRISMA guidelines: through a double-blind procedure, 4599 studies were screened; a total of 46 studies were selected for full-text reading, which was reduced to 13 by excluding papers with a wrong focus. To better understand the results of the thematic synthesis, two main focuses have been identified: "leave or stay decision making" and "multifactorial dimensions of decision making". Results showed that decision-making is an important process in avoiding secondary victimization